 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
III. CHURCHES.
A castle strongly built, and eminentAbove Time's battle-plain defaced and gory;
A palace where, in robes of kingly glory
Our spirits rest; among parched sands a tent;
One sunlit isle in a vexed element;
A gallery graced with all the pictured story
Of earth and man; a high observatory
Whence eyes of seers for aye on Heaven are bent:—
Such is yon Church: and round its tapering spire
I see, descending like a heavenly crown
Immortal forms a wreathed and beautiful choir
Bearing in golden urns and baskets down
Angelic food; and scattering with the sound
Of hymns and chaunted psalms those demons hovering round!
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |